[Mk2] [Turbo] Is a sub worth it?

[Harold]

Hello all,

I'm finally looking at doing a decent sound install in my car, my original plan was to have just uprated speakers, tweeters and an amp. However, is it worth looking into small subs that will fit into the cubby boxes behind the seats?

I want it to be a stealth install, so no big sub boxes, and although i do listen to some bassy music i'm not too bothered about having massive amounts of bass pounding out.

Speaker wise i was looking at Focal Access 165 A1, with a decent amp to power them.

Thanks all.

[Ryan S]

subs are always worth it mate standard systems without them are just terrible, even the Bose sound system in my Rx8 could have done with a sub, the only subs you'd fit in the cubby holes would be 6 inch, not worth it in my opinion, try looking for some active under seat subs

[Harold]

Hmm, sounds like a bit too much fannying around for my liking. And a sub will push my budget past what i want to spend at the moment, i think i'll buy a 4 channel amp so i have the option for a sub in the future.

Also, roughly how long is it going to take to do the full install for a newbie, new speakers, amp and full rewire etc?

I don't have any dry storage so my main worry is having most of the cars interior out and it raining or i run out of light or something. I'm tempted to pay some local guys to do it.

[dawesy]

ive just fitted a sub box from neil turbo on here and fitted a 10" JBL sub. whole lot cam in at just over £110.
the sub box is awesome quality and still allows good movement of the seat, also doesn't stick out like a sore thumb

[Harold]

How are subs wired into the car audio system?
I won't be putting one in straight away, but was thinking I could lay the wires if I want to install one in the future.

[b4ss]

How are subs wired into the car audio system?
I won't be putting one in straight away, but was thinking I could lay the wires if I want to install one in the future.

I had the same dilemma, i want some bass as i was used to subs, but didn't want to install an amp and 10" sub.

I chose this as a compromise:
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/25/1 ... /page.html
Fit neatly behind seat...
Tony

[Harold]

I think I will go for a sub install in the future, I don't think I'd mind a 10" in a small box behind my seat.

I've just fitted a sub box from neil turbo on here and fitted a 10" JBL sub, whole lot came in at just over £110. The sub box is awesome quality and still allows good movement of the seat, also doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Does he custom make them himself? How much does he charge?

Edit - just answered my own question, found his website.

[Harold]

Ok,

After not planning on installing one at first, I've gone and bought this - http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/jl-10w0 ... 0w0v3.html and one of the sub boxes from Neil_turbo.

If I'm going to do it then I might as well do it properly.

Now here's hoping for it to be dry next weekend.

[Harold]

Had a horrible day trying to install all of my new sound system, luckily the previous owner had already run new speaker cable through the door harness which saved me some time. Still lots to finish tomorrow, I was xxxxxx freezing all day today, probably not the best weekend to do it but I couldn't sit around with all this nice gear and not install it!

Oddly the remote cable on my head unit was already connected to something, but I don't have an amp currently.

Though I do have one problem and would appreciate some advice:
I want my amp (Hertz HE4) to sit underneath the passenger seat and currently the seat scrapes the top of the amp without anyone sitting in it.

Can I just raise the passenger seat with some washers?

If I can't do that then the only other place I could think to put it would be to screw it into the firewall behind the passenger seat, which is a lot less stealthy than I would like.

[CalMac]

It won't fit in the storage cubby hole at all will it?

I fitted 10mm spacers on my Ford KA seats in order to squeeze flat subs under each seat (Blaupunkt THB200A subs) so it shouldn't be an issue

[Harold]

It won't fit in the storage cubby hole at all will it?

I fitted 10mm spacers on my Ford KA seats in order to squeeze flat subs under each seat (Blaupunkt THB200A subs) so it shouldn't be an issue

Already tried that and it's far too wide. I'll go down to halfords in the morning and see what I can find.

[mrfil13]

Finding room for an amp in the MR2 is always a pita, on my first MR2 i ended up with a JBL 75.4 as it would fit under the deat (can't remember if i used a washer or two)

This ran the Sub behind the driver seat and the speakers.


I now have an amp in the cubby box (pokes out a little) with one of the Alpine active subs sat on the cubby lid and infinity door speakers.

My old setup did sound better but i used to do long journeys on my own is the volume of the setup was justified. Im still happy with the new setup and its still minimsed on space loss.

With you already having new cabling in the doors it sounds like the main job is over, the rest should be relativly easy. I had to run two fresh cables through each door, took me about 45 mins to do the first door, the second took about 20 mins to including putting it back while on the phone.

[madbasshunter]

The amp needs space above it for cooling really and theres plenty of room on top of the spare wheel for the amp

or more room in the boot

[Harold]

I finally finished the car this morning, and it sounds awesome. Loving the sub behind my seat, with the music up loud on a bassy track i can really feel it in my back.

I had an engineer shop make me up some 20mm diameter, 20mm long spacers so the passenger seat clears the amp.

One question remains however, after plugging the remote cable from the amp into my head unit, I had to unplug the electric aerial activation wire. What's the best way of wiring the electric aerial back in? Can I just split the remote cable from the Headunit?

[madbasshunter]

Yes you can split the remote to them both, but I put a switch in the wire on the dash so I could stop the aeriel going up if not using the radio

[mrfil13]

I thought most stereos had a seperate connection for the amp and aerial on.

Yeah putting a switch inline to the aerial is very handy.

[Harold]

I found a spare ignition connector so just wired it up to that, annoyingly the aerial is now broken and just makes a loud whirring noise and doesn't rise, new one is on the way though.